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The list is made up of MU values as half the weight, the other half from professional opinion. MU values are made up of frame data and recent tournament placement. Professional opinion is made up of player skill, the meta, and recent representation.

Who is representing Firion now that I'm not around anymore, and are they better than I was (they're certainly better than I am now, anyway)? Feels like some of these are a bit of a step backwards. No questions about Firion-Jecht specifically, but the rest are kinda huh. How is Exdeath a better MU than Kuja?

Also, cuz no one else pointed this out, placements within a tier are by alphabetical order and not point placement. Ultimecia is still #1. Prishe is #2, Exdeath is #3.

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I did before this list was published, they didn't consult me at all about the numbers, hopefully, most of the numbers are better than the old list. I don't agree with Garland and Zidane matchups, they should be 6-4 and 5-5, the rest is ok. Exdeath is much easier to deal with Kuja because NO ONE can omniblock arrows with 100% accuracy, and depending on distance and reaction of the Firion player, omniblocking doesn't mean guarantee hp hit. Kuja can literally punish and dodge everything.

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Firion has a major advantage over Exdeath, because, as Coppala was saying, it's much easier to time Straightarrow against an Omni-blocking Exdeath than it is for an Exdeath player to time and block Straightarrow. Firion beats out Lightning too in most cases if he keeps calm, and has Concentration equipped so Lightning can't just run away and use Cure all day. I'm not sure about Firion vs Prishe, I'd have to test it more, but Prishe is fast and nimble, so she can easily avoid anything Firion can throw at her, and she outdamages him. Not to mention her fall speed makes Straightarrow pretty hard to land. I could see it potentially being a 6-4 Firion or 6-4 Prishe depending on stages, and how each player approaches the matchup.

Edited July 13 by kewldude475

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I did before this list was published, they didn't consult me at all about the numbers, hopefully, most of the numbers are better than the old list. I don't agree with Garland and Zidane matchups, they should be 6-4 and 5-5, the rest is ok. Exdeath is much easier to deal with Kuja because NO ONE can omniblock arrows with 100% accuracy, and depending on distance and reaction of the Firion player, omniblocking doesn't mean guarantee hp hit. Kuja can literally punish and dodge everything.

First time replying to something here with a quote, so sorry if I screw up the format here.

Agreeing with Garland and Zidane's numbers, but Exdeath can just use Zidane assist to punish Straightarrow, when the stage isn't so big that Firion cannot interrupt Maelstrom. Firion can try to get up close, but a smart Exdeath is going to be doing things like throwing out Black Hole or just teleporting away. The long game favors Exdeath, so playing a patient runaway style is perfectly fine.

On 7/12/2017 at 3:31 AM, kewldude475 said:

Firion has a major advantage over Exdeath, because, as Coppala was saying, it's much easier to time Straightarrow against an Omni-blocking Exdeath than it is for an Exdeath player to time and block Straightarrow. Firion beats out Lightning too in most cases if he keeps calm, and has Concentration equipped so Lightning can't just run away and use Cure all day. I'm not sure about Firion vs Prishe, I'd have to test it more, but Prishe is fast and nimble, so she can easily avoid anything Firion can throw at her, and she outdamages him. Not to mention her fall speed makes Straightarrow pretty hard to land. I could see it potentially being a 6-4 Firion or 6-4 Prishe depending on stages, and how each player approaches the matchup.

Lightning doesn't need to camp Firion though...he has literally no good answer to Thunder against a Lightning with reasonable reaction times and good spacing. She can sit in front of his face at Thunder range and everything he can do is disadvantageous compared to what Lightning's options are. Within Thunder range, everything is interrupted except Swordslash (which Thunder outranges) and Shield Bash (which triggers the melee response), just by continuously using Thunder. Firion's only options become to block and try to get into Swordslash range (which allows Lightning to mix it up with her HP moves, punishing blocks) or run away. Lightning easily camps above Firion's head and can punish almost all of his attacks on reaction with Thunderfall. She has an easy time getting in, an easy time punishing, and has an overall much better risk:reward ratio than Firion does. It's clearly favorable to her. 6-4 Lightning favor at the very least.

Firion-Prishe should also generally be 6-4 since, while Prishe has good speed, her range is such that every time she gets close but doesn't land an attack is a Lord of Arms or Straightarrow mixup, which favors Firion, and she has to contend with Emperor assist's Thunder Crest for many stages, which makes Firion impossible to approach while it's up and can be used to interrupt some of her attacks when she lands them. The risk:reward situation favors Firion, since Prishe is getting fewer openings to land hits and is getting less off of them than Firion is getting off of his hits. Her BRV damage, while excellent, is comparable to Firion's own (and he has superior DEF to Prishe), and Firion is having a much easier time landing HP hits compared to Prishe, with superior HP moves and more opportunities to land them. Firion holds too many advantages with his tools for the MU to be even.

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Although no one has used Emperor ast on me vs a Prishe vs Emperor match up not sure what answers she has against him from experience but from what I know it shouldn't be a problem to deal with. I will just wait thunder crest to be done, since Prishes run speed is so good I can avoid Straight arrow easily by just resetting back to neutral if he's spamming or by dropping to the ground and using my running speed to avoid it... same with rope knife and I can just hover around him and above him to a avoid lord of arms... if you have any doubts you can watch any prishe match ups in tournament play from me and If you got any doubts I can prishe against any firion and beat them easily. So 5-5 stands since it's my number until proven otherwise from recent tournaments.

Edited July 23 by Wheelz

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Lightning doesn't need to camp Firion though...he has literally no good answer to Thunder against a Lightning with reasonable reaction times and good spacing. She can sit in front of his face at Thunder range and everything he can do is disadvantageous compared to what Lightning's options are. Within Thunder range, everything is interrupted except Swordslash (which Thunder outranges) and Shield Bash (which triggers the melee response), just by continuously using Thunder. Firion's only options become to block and try to get into Swordslash range (which allows Lightning to mix it up with her HP moves, punishing blocks) or run away. Lightning easily camps above Firion's head and can punish almost all of his attacks on reaction with Thunderfall. She has an easy time getting in, an easy time punishing, and has an overall much better risk:reward ratio than Firion does. It's clearly favorable to her. 6-4 Lightning favor at the very least.

Doesn't matter if she camps him or not, she can't do anything to him if he has concentration. Obviously no one is going to use Shield Bash if it's gonna get them punished. Anyways, after you tested it with Terrina and concluded it was 7-3 Lightning (which, without Concentration involved, probably isn't a bad opinion) I tested it extensively with Terrina against her Lightning and determined it was at least around a 6-4 Firion Even after Cipher defeated me in Summer Wars he actually admitted to me that I would have won if I had Concentration equipped, but he told me "I knew you'd forget to equip it though <3". Theory fighting is entirely meaningless in the face of actual testing with skilled exceptional players with said character. We're all too smart now to approach matchups based on theory, since we all know most of the strategies people are trying now and what they could do. Even if it were changed to 6-4 Firion I doubt his placement would change much anyways.

Outside of all that I think the tier list actually looks really good. I would probably put Kuja in B tier, and Onion Knight and Vaan in A tier though. Or at least, if Kuja is A tier, Vaan and OK are too. Onion Knight is a well-known counter-pick character, and with dash tech+assist gauge up dash and Side by Side, he can virtually always have assist ready, and use a level 2 assist change counter if needed. And Vaan has a plethora of tools to deal good damage, he has pokes in the air and on the ground, and has a double dodge in the form of Rifle. Also, Windburst is extremely useful, as it comes out deceptively quickly and stays on the field even if Vaan is hit, so many characters have a hard time completing their combos since Windburst is always pulling them away from Vaan's hitbox. And many characters have a hard time reflecting it, such as Warrior of Light, since his only attack that can reflect it in the air, Shield of Light, has a narrow hitbox that won't connect with Windburst. Also Laguna really isn't a bad character at all (I'm sure UW2K could convince everyone Laguna is actually S tier if he wanted to) but he lacks representation, and people didn't know how to use him well back when he was placed in his tier. He has a lot of keepaway options and Bazooka/Ricochet shot are great for whittling down bravery. Electroshield is extremely useful as well since it comes out pretty quick and is mid-priority, so it's like a weaker version of Knight's Lance. But yeah, the list looks really good I think.

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I am dumbfounded at the idea that Firion is ever using Concentration on a character with one of the safest methods of approaching him (camping is not her primary strategy, it's just to make it harder to counter her dash-in). I also don't remember testing it with Terrina and concluding it was 7-3 Lightning favor. Rather, the testing I did was with Kayarine, and we were both baffled at how ridiculously safe Lightning was in the matchup. She just picked her up and she could do everything I said, and she wasn't even very good at the game. We also put it at 6-4 and not 7-3. It was pretty obvious that a basic aggressive approach with Lightning from anyone with decent Thunder usage was difficult for Firion to counter since he has no way to defend against it.

When did Concentration ever become a meta thing to use for Firion (or any character for that matter), and what is this talk about the MU being Firion's favor when he cannot (outside of significant player error) punish Thunder? I understand that, having played minimally in years, I'm going only by prior experience, but what you're describing is completely contrary to everything I'm familiar with. What are you talking about here?

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I am dumbfounded at the idea that Firion is ever using Concentration on a character with one of the safest methods of approaching him (camping is not her primary strategy, it's just to make it harder to counter her dash-in). I also don't remember testing it with Terrina and concluding it was 7-3 Lightning favor. Rather, the testing I did was with Kayarine, and we were both baffled at how ridiculously safe Lightning was in the matchup. She just picked her up and she could do everything I said, and she wasn't even very good at the game. We also put it at 6-4 and not 7-3. It was pretty obvious that a basic aggressive approach with Lightning from anyone with decent Thunder usage was difficult for Firion to counter since he has no way to defend against it.

When did Concentration ever become a meta thing to use for Firion (or any character for that matter), and what is this talk about the MU being Firion's favor when he cannot (outside of significant player error) punish Thunder? I understand that, having played minimally in years, I'm going only by prior experience, but what you're describing is It was like 4 years ago at this point so it's not surprising you don't remember. And yeah Lightning is pretty safe but so is Firion. I already tested it extensively with Terrina, and Cipher pointed out that Firion has the advantage if he has Concentration. I didn't just make the Concentration thing up out of thin air. I figure you would at least take Cipher's word, if you don't want to take mines. Also, if you're decent at spacing, Thunder isn't really a threat either and leaves Lightning open for a Straightarrow attempt. If you know how to space properly, Straightarrow is definitely a problem for Lightning. Not to mention Rope Knife, Swordslash, and even Lance can go through Thunder if Lightning isn't careful, so it's not like she can use it willy nilly. Lightning is very safe against Firion, but that doesn't change the fact that she literally can't do anything to him, particularly if the Firion player is decent at spacing, and knows what opportunities to take. I could see a 5-5 though. Idk about 6-4 Lightning but 5-5 I could see. Just looked at the spreadsheet actually, and it's already listed at 5-5, and I don't have a problem with that honestly that very well could be about right. It's oftentimes a long-winded matchup, as both characters are safe, and it involves a lot of waiting for one player to make a mistake.

It was like 4 years ago at this point so I'm not that surprised you don't remember playing it with Terrina at this point. But yeah Cipher already backed me up on that, so I'm not just pulling Concentration's effectiveness out of thin air. Lightning is very safe yes, but so is Firion. She can't do a whole lot to a Firion player who is decent at spacing, and her attacking him leaves her open for a Straightarrow attempt, especially if the Firion player can space somewhat well. Also, Rope Knife, Lance Combo, and Swordslash can go through Thunder, so Lightning has to be careful. Also of course stages have to be considered. After taking a look at the spreadsheet though, I see it's already listed at 5-5, which I have no problem with whatsoever, considering how much both players have to wait for someone to make a mistake in that matchup. It can definitely be a long-winded fight.

But yeah like I said I think the list looks about right for the most part. Shame about Bartz's placement, as a good Bartz can really scary, especially on a ground stage where he can mindgame with Solid Ascension, Hazard Raid, and Hellfire mixups, but sadly it's just that all the other characters are so good in comparison, and Bartz shines more on ground stages. I don't think he's the worst character in the game, he just has to work harder to win for sure.

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That aside I think your Firion numbers look really good Garuga. By default I'm skeptical of any values involving Zidane since he has those 4-6K damage Aerith combos, but at the end of the day I can't really say I have any qualms

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I looked back into the old stuff and saw that Terrina posted about it being 6-4 Lightning favor and said I was adamantly against it being anything worse than 5-5. She also said I was just being stubborn about it. So I did test it with Terrina, and she won 7 or 8 out of 10 matches (which is a big deal since back then I would usually go about 6-4 in 5-5 matchups with casuals), but I still said it was a 5-5 matchup, and she didn't put it at worse than 6-4.

That stuff aside, you're telling me that Firion can keep himself safe against Lightning by spacing, but he also needs to use Concentration, which requires him to stand still, which prevents him from spacing. Do you not see the problem with this? You're right that Lightning can't play recklessly with Thunder or she'll get hit, but Thunder's end lag is so low that she can block or dodge Rope Knife and Lance Combo punish attempts (from there, if Firion attempts to use lance followup, Crushing Blow punishes, and if Firion tries to dodge, Thunder punishes because Firion cannot cover his dodge with Shield Bash or Swordslash, putting him at a disadvantageous position), and she can use it without any risk of Straightarrow because she can dash almost immediately after using Thunder (gap is like, 6f or 1/10th of a second in 60 FPS, Swordslash is 5f while running in 60 FPS for comparison). That leaves Swordslash, which Thunder outranges. Naturally, spacing is important in this matchup, since Lightning has better tools than Firion. That's why Firion can't use Concentration, he has no choice but to move.

If you compare the matchup with something like Firion-Tifa, which has had its contentions but is certainly 5-5 as long as the players play their best, it should be clear that Lightning holds some significant advantages in her ability to fight Firion compared to Tifa, and Firion does not really have the same ability to counter or negate what Lightning can do the way he can with Tifa (this is especially true with strategic use of Emperor assist). Tifa is slower, has more lag on her attacks, cannot attack outside of Swordslash range, cannot freely dodge punish Firion on the ground outside of Burning Arrow (so she must be grounded), and her EX generation is considerably lower. Tifa also has quite a bit lower DEF so she's taking more damage on the mistakes she does make, which is easier to do because Firion is capable of punishing anything Tifa does given the correct situation, or at least create a mix-up that can net hits.

Lightning has all of these advantages to fighting Firion, and Firion has no comparable advantages unique to the matchup to even things out. So how can this be 5-5?

Regarding Firion-Zidane, Firion's damage output is only a little lower than Zidane's with Emperor assist, so it's fine. Keep in mind that Firion is regularly dealing 3HKOs with properly executed combos.

Edited July 27 by LonelyGaruga

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Terrina asked to test it with me after that and at the end of the night it was like 25-5, and she tried everything, so we figured it was at least about 6-4 Firion. Also, she was no casual, she's a great player and you know it. Spacing and Concentration usage are two entirely separate matters. Concentration is to prevent Lightning from baiting Firion with Cure/Cura spam, and spacing is to land Straightarrow without getting punished, or being immediately within Thunder's Range. Concentration is more of an insurance policy, not an offensive strategy. Also I run Free air dash Firion now, and from my limited experience it's a better setup, so that could help him too with chasing Lightning down if need be, and he can space with descent speed boost to avoid getting too close to her and to set himself up for safer Straightarrow attempts.

Edited August 25 by kewldude475

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So you're telling me that you use spacing to land SA when I've been saying that Lightning has a 6-4 advantage because she has superior spacing ability. She dashes like, 50% faster than Firion, if she wants to get in range she's going to get in range. And if you're going into the air to do this then she can Blizzara you. Being in the air in general against Lightning is not that great of an idea since Firion is completely defenseless against Thunder, since she can now attack him from below and punish dodges with Army of One (if she's using it), along with Blizzara not being possible to Shield Bash (although she can just Crushing Blow Shield Bash's projectiles).

So I take it that, at this level of gameplay, people still aren't assist punishing SA consistently? Because every SA you land should be netting a break for your opponent unless that's the case, which is basically dealing 1K damage and letting your opponent get 2K BRV for free. If your primary strategy is to use SA, then it's definitely a bad matchup. It'd work fine on something like Edge of Madness, but anywhere bigger than that seems really questionable.

Edited July 27 by LonelyGaruga

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Nah, every SA definitely won't get you broken if you use it intelligently, and not when the opponent can of course punish you. If you can keep momentum going you can also keep your opponent's assist down with depletion. Also, Firion doesn't ever need to go into the air, because he has concentration, and can stay on the ground as long as he wants, and Lightning has to be the one to come to him. Also Firion isn't defenseless in the least against Thunder. At least, not on the ground, since again all of his attacks go through Thunder, and if Lightning is fighting a Firion who can space well, if she misses with Thunder she'll be left open in the air, where Firion can force a bad dodge and connect with Straightarrow, and since Lightning's fall speed isn't as fast as someone as say, Prishe or Kain, she can still get hit by it.

But yeah SA getting punished is mostly a non-issue. If it is, it's because the Firion player is new and using Straightarrow when he can easily be punished. The best time to use SA is after getting rid of your opponent's assist, which is what I did against Lightning. Thunder isn't really an especially huge threat to a grounded Firion, and again, a whiffed Thunder gives a Firion player who is spacing well time, and distance to use SA. Concentration in most cases ensures Firion won't have to fight Lightning in the air unless he wants to for some odd reason

Edited July 27 by kewldude475

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I have many issues with the zidane-tidus mu, There's not much Tidus can do, Shift break becomes a threat if he goes too far and Swift Attack is literally hopstep but with a bigger reward and how is he gonna build assist or ex againts a SBS zidane :V. its just not 5-5.

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Exdeath as #1 huh? Curious to know if Ultimaweapon contributed to this list ?

But man does this bring me back to the lolz of the backroom. Also seeing Jecht so high after years of him being so low only makes me think its strictly player skill. Who's the new current good Jecht player? Unless clavier is still around

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Exdeath as #1 huh? Curious to know if Ultimaweapon contributed to this list ?

But man does this bring me back to the lolz of the backroom. Also seeing Jecht so high after years of him being so low only makes me think its strictly player skill. Who's the new current good Jecht player? Unless clavier is still around

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Dave's Stupid Rule (The most common variation of Dave's Stupid Rule is that a player cannot pick a stage they have won on during the set in question. Therefore, under this variation, the losing player would be free to pick the same stage he lost on for the second game, having previously lost on such a stage. Should that player win that time, however, they can no longer pick the stage for future matches in the set.)
Feral Chaos BANNED
Rebellious Soul BANNED
Omega Stages BANNED
The Rift & Phantom Train BANNED
Infinites BANNED (Beat Fang → BF → BF for example)
Hacked Items BANNED
Breakables BANNED
1-hit Chase ONLY "If you chase after a chase BRV, it must be an empty chase, meaning you don't perform any additional chase attacks."
Counter Summons ONLY (mandatory equip, Barbariccia, Scarmiglione, Cagnazzo and Rubicante)

So, I've figured this whole thing out, and soon will be offering custom BGM DLC packs.
Right now, I've not finished any sets, but I do have a few made.
I will share the song list with you:
Completed songs:
Edgar Winter Group - Free Ride (original version) (Currently attached to Kefka and Phantom Train) (audio ripped from Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock - Wii)
Living Colour - Cult of Personality (Re-Recorded version for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits) (Currently attached to Gilgamesh and M.S. Prima Vista)
Shinedown - Sound of Madness (Explicit) (Currently attached to Sephiroth and Planet's Core)
Metallica - Dyers' Eve (Explicit) (Currently attached to Cloud, Sephiroth and Planet's Core)
DragonForce - Through the Fire and Flames (Currently attached to Warrior of Light, Chaos and Edge of Madness)
These next songs are from an RPG made with RPG Maker VX Ace, by the name Luxaren Allure, which is a Yuri game (and quite lovely).
In this order:
Luxaren Allure (heard at the title screen and in various parts of the game) (currently attached to all female protagonists as well as Order's Sanctuary)
NEW - Intensity (G Danger - I was able to loop it in Audacity but that did NOT carry over in the ATRAC conversion (or it may of been ignored by GoldWave)) (attached to all villains short of Golbez, Kuja and Chaos as well as all stages short of Lunar Subterrane, Crystal World, Order of Sanctuary, Crystal Tower, Phantom Train and M.S. Prima Vista)
Battle 1 (one of two standard battle BGM) (no attachments)
Battle 2 (no attachments)
Boss Battle 1 (one of three boss battle BGM) (no attachments)
Boss Battle 2 (no attachments)
Boss Battle 3 (no attachments)
Final Battle (the battle BGM heard whilst fighting the final boss of the game) (no attachments)
Castle Darkloft (a very ominous and eerie dungeon BGM that is also used as a cutscene BGM in various parts of the game usually involving the main antagonist) (Currently attached to Golbez, Exdeath, The Rift, and a couple others I don't remember off the top of my head)
A few songs that I am working on:
G Danger (still working on getting the ATRAC conversion to recognize the loop made in Audacity)
Scary Piano (in the works, still trying to get the tempos right)
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town (I would think this as a perfect group BGM for the grouping of Zidane/Squall/Bartz) (also, getting the original version for this)
America, F*ck Yeah (I like the movie, I like the song, fight me)
That's all for now. I'll update as I have packs available.

So, I've pretty much completed the game, as far as all the main modes go (yes, I even beat Feral Chaos and it is awesome to play as him because of his unique Ex Burst), but it wasn't until I beat 013 (yeah, I beat 000 before completing 013 - fight me) that I noticed this...
Every so often, when reviewing fmv clips in the Theater, I'd get a screenshot with moogles populating it, but only if I left the cursor on it. If I move the cursor once and then back, that vanished unless I do a bunch of cursor movement. I watch these clips, to see nothing spectacular or different.
I did search for this, and have seen where Mognet explains this, though I've yet to see the mail regarding this (I've probably seen every mail message at least ten times by now)...
Is there anything to this? If there is, I'd like to know. I do have all the clips unlocked (some of these were a MEGA PITA to get).
On another note...I think the secondary game ending is damn sad...anyone else?

Features
Easy Character DLC generation: you can now create character DLCs easily without meddling with hex values, just select the character, slots, models and portraits and that's it!
DLC Attachments: you can create new attachments from scratch with ease and link them to your existing DLCs!
Easy BGM DLC generation: you can now create BGM DLC packs from scratch or from an existing source!
Swapping DLC slots: you can swap existing DLCs slots to fit your needs!
EX-Mode Aura/.exex edition: you can select the colors that you want for your character's EX-Mode aura using a simple graphical interface! You can also customize all the EX-Mode auras that a character has!
DLC Reporting: you can view your currently installed DLC data and export it in easy-to-handle Excel spreadsheets or text files! This tool is useful to keep track of your installed DLC or for checking DLC incompatibility issues.
And more features to come!
Requirements
Windows (it should also work on virtual machines in Linux and/or Mac which meet the rest of requirements). Tested on Windows 7 and 8.
.NET Framework 4.0: http://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=17851
Tutorials
How to use the tool
Bug reporting and known bugs
Downloads
I'll host all the releases in my Github account; just go to the GitHub's release page and download the "ddff_dlc_toolkit" .zip file.

Version 1.1.2 (2/14/2016): https://github.com/adriangl/DissDlcT...ses/tag/v1.1.2
Changelog
2/14/2016 - Version 1.1.2
General:
Support for high DPI screens
BGM Generation Tab:
Removed 36 characters limitation in song names. Now the user will be notified that exceeding that size may not render the name properly in-game. Thanks to convalise for the suggestion!
Fixed bug that generated wrong names for songs with hex numbers that contained uppercase letters. Thanks to Lugia2009 & convalise for the bug report!
Source code
You can get the tool's source code from its Github page. Feel free to submit bugs or pull requests there if you want to

Terra's Guide to Lightning as you know her
Lightning is a diverse character with a lot of options and safe Brave attacks. Her assist building is top end with thunder, and the advanced techniques surrounding the move, as well as watera and blizzara. she's very safe in ravager and hard to punish. Watera (who shall henceforth be known as bob) is a great offensive and defensive tool, used to block projectiles, zone enemies, pressure opponents and force favorable situations. Bob also can save you too. Bob's also a traitor. Thanks bob.

I. Why play lightning?
Other than the fact that Lightning is top tier, and good at countering several high tier matchups or going even with them, Let me tell you why Lightning is so amazing. Lightning is a character with so many tools and options in just ONE of her three paradigms that it can be easy to forget those options if you aren't a season Light player. She has a tool for almost any situation. Her braves are strong, watera, and blizzara both comboing into other attacks (more on that later), thunder being one of the best braves in the game utility wise, and army of one staggering and initiating chase for those sweet, sweet Aerith combos. Bob will also sometimes save your life, be it killing an enemy assist, hitting an enemy out of a crucial attack, or even sometimes hitting YOU out of crucial attacks. Very few characters have that kind of safety net, and the ones that do tend to be a high tier, and very hard for melee only characters to approach safely.
Medic as a paradigm is generally untouched, but Cura is a great brave to have equipped if you need to avoid getting broken, or generally just don't want to chase after your opponent after knocking them away. Regaining brave for basically nothing is a huge boon to have in those really campy match ups like emperor or exdeath.
Commando as a paradigm is also rarely touched, and is touched for the purpose of comboing or getting extra damage through it's +1 attack while in commando, great for finishing off those combos with a slightly bigger bang. Another use for commando is breaks, when you block an opponent you can swap to commando and deliver them your almighty smite straight into the ground where the dirt belongs. Bonus points because you can get a combo off of it for even more smitey justice! or a thundefall. that works to I guess. All in all Commando's main use is that crispy damage, and those spicy combos.
Overall Lightning as a lot of tools to keep her safe and punish the fools that would call her foe. If you like a character that's easy to pick up and go, but hard to master all her subtle nuances, Lightning's for you!
as far as meter gain goes, Lightning excells. She builds assist incredibly fast, and has some of the best EX generation in the game, meaning that she's very capable of putting static pressure on her foes and forcing them to stay docile, for fear of the crispy EXR. Her EXR game is fairly weak in reality, but the best combo seems to be double smite into thunderfall, which can combo into assist. but works best at low ground. that being said her EX burst is incredible, doing a lot of damage and being fairly easy to pull off, you can break a lot of players at around 600 brave running the damage oriented build.
Her HP game is fairly weak. Your best chance of getting HP hits are assists. Barring that, blocks into crushing blow are your second best option, and finally, inconsistent ravager combos into thunderfall, or catching a person blocking watera with thunderfall make for good options.
Lets just talk about Thunderfall real fast. Thunderfall is a tool that you'll see divided amongst great lightnings and bad lightnings. Great lightnings seldom use the attack but when they do it's going to punish you hard. It punishes so many things, but is in turn easy to punish. A great lightning will punish your Lord of Arms with it, Your air flares with it (on prediction, never reaction), your thunderfalls with it! Yes, thunderfall punishes itself! GLORIOUS. Thunderfall is a great punish move, but using it in neutral comes with very significant risk, as many characters can punish it in turn with their own HPs if you miss. It's also assist punishable, so there's that. still an invaluable tool in select matchups, and firion/emperor's worst nightmare.
A good way to think of Thunderfall is a High priority blizzara with the added benefit of punishing ground dodges. This move is powerful, but use it wisely, or it will be your downfall.

II. Lightning's slower than it looks
Fastest
0 D.Chaos/F.Chaos (EX mode)
1.5 Tidus (EX mode)
2 Prishe (EX mode)
2.5 D.Chaos/F.Chaos > Onion Knight
4 Tifa = Zidane = Tidus (Normal) = Gabranth (EX mode)
5 Cecil (Paladin) = Squall = Jecht = Prishe (Normal)
6 WoL = Bartz = Shantotto = Vaan = Lightning
7 Golbez > Cloud = Yuna > Kuja
8 Emperor > Firion = Kain
9 CoD > Cecil (Dark Knight) = Sephiroth = Laguna
10.5 Garland = Gilgamesh > Terra
11.5 Kefka
12 Gabranth
13.5 Ultimecia
?? Exdeath
Slowest
This is a WALKING SPEED chart. She pairs up similarly, but with minor differences in other aspects of speed.
Note that lightning's dash speed is the fastest outside of EX mode due to her exclusive. Good to deal with really fast characters. Thanks Wheelz for the information.
According to the speed charts, Lightning is actually somewhere in the middle of the pack. Slower than a lot of popular characters, but not so much slower that she can't keep up the pace with them when she really needs to. This is fine for us because when it comes right down to it we don't care if we're in their face or not. We have tools for everything.

III. My blade will fix this - Tools of the trade

Commando Tools
Ground
Blitz
Blitzs is a melee mid priority move that has lightning dashing forward in an AoE around her, and firing a shot back at the opponent when she passes through. Blitz hits two times and wall rushes for decent damage, and can be used to catch an opponent off guard at the start or whenever you drop to the ground. I highly recommend equipping blitz for it's utility, though it wont be used very often.
Launch
Launch is a three hit Slashing attack that is melee low and wall rushes. It's generally hard to land due to it having about the same range as smite, and similarly slow startup time, but when it does land it's better to combo into it's HP link, Flourish of steel than actually finish out the attack. Keep launch equipped for those times when you want to be crispy, but don't expect it to land very often.
Ruinga
a fairly easy to block Ranged low attack that creates a small explosion that's ranged mid. It's easy to block before it explodes, but should it explode and hit your opponent, it launches them into the air. Not very useful, but decide for yourself if you want it or not.

Air
Smite
Smite is your all purpose damage tool. And by all purpose i mean it only serves a single purpose. Lightning swings her sword twice, and on hit will "smite" the enemy back to the ground. use it on block or in combo's to do brave damage and wall rush, strong contender for EXR combos. Don't throw it out often in neutral unless you're looking to punish something.
Blaze rush
Lightning fires three shots from her gun before tackling the opponent head on. Not a very useful skill but can be mixed in to neutral for some extra damage, good at catching dodges when you're in commando. Keep it equipped, but don't expect it to be your BnB
Ruin
A weaker version of Ruinga but you can launch three of them now. Initiates chase, so that's cool I guess.

Ravager tools
Ground
Fire
Launches three fire balls, that start slow but pick up speed rapidly. Decent for pressure when inside thundaga, but generally easy to block.
Aerora
Aerora is cool. It launches a single fast moving projectile that deals multiple hits and knocks enemies into the air. Can combo into assist for bonus points, but not much else here. Fairly useful attack to catch landing lag and punish dodges.
Thundaga
All purpose electrical shield. Protects you from most melee and ranged attacks baring any HPs, but even if they connect, the chance of them getting broken by a bolt is high. Thundaga is great to sit inside and throw out your ranged HP, or fire, or aerora. It's really hard for some characters to pressure a lightning in her shield of insanity.
Army of One (ground version)
Don't bother with this multi hitting melee mid ability. The air version is used more, and having the ground version over fire or aerora is silly, you're not on the ground to be aggressive. Turtle more.
Air
Watera
Good ol' bob. Bob is my long time friend. Bob is your long time friend. Bob is a bad friend. If you've ever liked being chased by a slow moving man down a subway train station out of fear that when he reaches you he's just going to explode and launch you into the ever loving arms of Sir manthong the ball fondler, You've probably met bob before. Bob is a slow moving melee mid projectile that persists through damage (meaning if you hit light it doesnt go away). Bob is a cornerstone in lights gameplay, You block it she can punish, you dodge it she can punish, you get hit by it she can combo. Bob is great pressure because other than reflecting it with melee highs she has a tool for dealing with it.
Also there can be two bobs. Bob's twin brother came to town because you reflected bob. Now Bobs twin brother is here, and I've got bob back on track, so have fun dealing with the dynamic duo of terror!
Use bob as you see fit. Use him for pressure, use him for combos (but mostly pressure), use him and his twin brother for shenanigans (but mostly pressure.) bob is a consistent pressure tool that can be used offensively, or defensively to keep characters from getting to you, block low ranged projectiles, and be generally a nuisance to your foe. Bob can combo into thunderfall, and at certain ranges thunder as well. Bob also can combo into blizzara if you predict the hit. Bob is truly a cornerstone in our gameplay. Just be careful what you say to bob. Bobs a spiteful bastard and he likes to attack his mean friends.
Bob can also save you, or your enemy, so be mindful of his positioning. If you're being hit by an assist and bob is right by you, it might be worth letting bob come to the party. He's indiscriminate about who he blows up on, and his original target doesn't have to be the end result. Even an enemy bob can save you, as he can knock YOU out of combos too! sometimes he'll interrupt you though, so be careful. Bob's never been good at waiting his turn.
thunder
Our bread and butter, Thunder. Lightning almost instantly fires a thunderbolt out in front of her, and if it hits she can soot two more and lead into chase. Perfect for assist combos. Perfect for building assist. Huge ammounts of EX generation. Super safe, reliable, and unpunishable on block. Nearly perfect. Use it to hit enemies. Use it to hit air. Use it to not hit enemies. Use it to make enemies wish lightning was balanced.
Thunder is an impressive ability that can be used for a multitude of different things. It hits enemies above you with the tip, and has really good cooldown, allowing you to dodge almost immediately after using it, or even use another. There's some advanced tech we'll discuss further down the guide that pertains to this ability as well.
Blizzara
Blizzara is a great tool to use. Assist punishable, but strong. Blizzara pulls enemies close, and if they're caught in it's AoE they take two hits of damage and are flung back. The second hit always comes out regardless of if the first hits, and can still hit the opponent in this case.
Use Blizzara to interrupt abilities such as Genesis rock (be below him) or to dodge punish in the air. It can't reliably combo into much, and only assist combos on a wall or ceiling, but it's a great pressure tool.
We'll talk about some advanced tech pertaining to timing and placement of blizzara and the effects on what you can do with it further down in the guide.

Army of One
We swap Blizzara out for Army of One in matchups that favor it more. Melee mid priority which means it reflects stuff like your own watera, and staggers brave attacks, This move is great. It dodge punishes, it block punishes, it punishes poorly placed braves, and even on stagger it continues the full chain of attacks. Can be combo'ed into aerith, and at the ceiling (and with the adamant chains set) can be dodge canceled to combo into thunder. Very useful tool but easy to punish as well.
We'll talk about the magic link glitch and what it means for Army of One later on in the guide.
Medic
I'm going to do something a bit different with this paradigm, as it's very different in terms of use than the others are, I will only be discussing Cura.
Cura is the only medic ability you'll ever equip. It's just a better version of cure, time it properly get brave. useful when you've knocked opponents away, or when you're low and want to avoid that break. Not much to this paradigm or this ability. Just use it wisely.
HP attacks
Ground
Razor Gale
The big purple circle that doesn't even look natural. Razor gale is a single hit HP attack, where lightning throws out a large projectile with decent tracking. Good to toss out for pressure when in your thundaga.
Lightning strike
Great attack to hit dash ins with. Lightning lets out a field of lightning which does brave damage and then another set for the HP. When you're on the ground this can be a good choice if they're being to aggressive.
flourish of steel
HP link from launch. use it every time you land launch, which isn't often.
Air
Crushing blow
Another one hit HP attack, Assist punishable but very reliable to catch dodges, and combos into aerith if you know you're going to hit. Works for double aerith HP combos. Use this on block for free damage, and combo into aerith or Kuja.
ThunderFall
I love this move a little TO much. Don't spam this easily assist punishable beast, but keep it in the wings for punishing long HPs, catching dodges, and catching people who block your watera. Silly fools, they think Bob would betray me? (he would). It also combos off of watera, and blizzara, but we'll talk about that a little bit later.
III. Enjoy the view! - Lightning gear and what it means to you
Lightning doesn't have a lot of Viable options for her sets. She either runs EX heavy with damage, EX heavy with depletion, or core heavy. Side by side is not included in any of my sets.
1. The EX depletion set

You run this set to get as much EX and deplete as much as you can. The general plan for this set is high booster level with dismay shock and battle hammer, your usual EX gear including glutton and tenacious attacker, heavens cloud and the lufienian set of your choice dependent on Matchup. Use this set when you don't want them to get EX, or when you need to keep their assist down. They'll have to switch out on every HP hit or suffer the consequences!

2. The EX Damage set
This is my preferred set of choice. You run the usual EX gear with your lufenian set, and weasel in some damage accessories to make up for your lack of damage. Take lufienan gear that ups your attack as much as you can, and throw in the rings to make this set a force to be reckoned with. You can skip tenacious attacker and glutton, as the preferred assist for this set is aerith, meaning you'll be initiating plenty of chase.
3. The core build set
Strengthen that core! No really, increase core spawn rates and what you get from them. Abuse campers by out camping.
IIII. You can't do it alone! - assist guide for the assistance impaired
Lightning works well with most assists due to the way her braves work, and her HPs work, but for simplicity we will only be talking about two, and those two will be Kuja, and Aerith. Jecht is a viable alternative for depleting EX as rapidly as possible, and combos in much the same way as Kuja does, but with ground rushes. As such we will not be discussing Jecht, as I find him to be inferior to Kuja in almost every way but damage and depletion.
Kuja
We'll talk about the combo king first. Kuja has a lot more damage potential than Aerith (obvious) and combo potential than aerith (also obvious) but lacks safety. Kuja combos usually include the first two hits of smite, into thunderfall.
If you manage to land a ground rush (via thunderfall or smite) ground assists include the entire Smite combo into thunderfall for added damage. Kuja depletes EX and does damage which is really his only boon over aerith, as aerith can combo off anything he can and more.
You can however, use the force symphony assist from Thunder to bypass two bars of assist, which will lead into a chase.
The worst part about running Kuja is how hard he is to protect. Lightning doesn't really have a tool that can protect him in the same way that squall or cloud does, he can be very hard to protect and that makes him a hard choice. Kuja is your alternative to Aerith in sets where you want to deal EX depletion, but you should only pick him when neccessary.
Aerith
I would call aerith the queen of mean if she wasn't so damn nice. Aerith's difficult to lock, easy to use, a magic based assist (meaning two bar assist change wont lock her), and allows for EX absorbtion through chase combos. What this means for lightning is that she can combo off of all of her air normals except for blizzara (blaze rush and smite wall rush only, watera difficult), into one of the safest assists in the game, and on many of those combos, gather up all that crispy EX force. No tenacious or glutton needed!
Aerith is a very strong assist for lightning because she compliments her oppressive playstyle by saying "you'll never lock me, I'll lock you first"
Lightning also has a double aerith combo in crushing blow > crushing blow. This means that a full combo might look like, Smite > aerith assist > crushing blow > aerith assist > thunderfall. I don't have to tell you how amazing that is. We've all fought zidaerith, being his mini me is no easy feat.
Aerith' overall compliments lightning's playstyle by allowing her to get crispy EX force without effort, and keeping her on the offensive without risking an assist lock. She compliments her defense just fine as well.
The downside to Aerith is that her ground assist is generally useless. Just a heal, it does nothing to benefit you that you can't do yourself, and means you can't combo into assists from the ground. Rip Aerora.
her level two assists are great tools as well, though situational. Planet protector can be used to save you from a big hit if you know it's coming, and holy can be a pain for some characters to deal with while they still need to deal with you. Generally I don't use them but they have a use.

Yuna
Someone actually brought up a good point about this assist. Yuna is a great punish assist vs matchups like firion, and is worth taking over Aerith in these matchups. She's basically an inferior Aerith in most MUs, but has the ability to punish, which makes her more useful in matchups where assist punish can come in handy. Combo with thunderfall by dashing in while she does her attack.
Thanks to VII for the info.
IV. Cocoon - Stage break down
Due to the current competitive scene I will ONLY be covering stages that are allowed in competitive play.
WoD
Rating: 3.5/5
Most Flat stages without much in them are going to be rated 4/5. Lightning prefers these medium sized stages where she can setup her game and put pressure on at the same time. WoD is a bit larger, but serves similar purpose. She might struggle more against campy characters due to the stage size, So this is only a 3.5/5 for the time being, but she definitely doesn't suffer to hard.
Top Floor
Rating: 5/5
This is my preferred stage to take lightning,to, It's just big enough for her to set up but small enough that it makes campy characters easier to chase down. Lightning likes these mid sized stages because they offer her the ability to do as she pleases in the MU's she can, while giving her room to be campy vs campers, and offensive vs others.
Sky Fortress Bahamut
Rating: 4/5
I personally love this map, I think it's awesome, but the rails make it a bit more of a pain for lightning to catch certain campy characters, and the banish traps can mess up smite if you happen to land it. Usually not a big deal, still an awesome stage for her, Worth going to if they ban top floor,
Order's Sanctuary
Rating: 3.5/5
Pretty average wide stage. Its not bad for lightning but not particularly amazing either. Games might go in others favor, due to stage size and the ability to run, so it's 3.5/5
Old Chaos Shrine
Rating: 3/5
I don't like this stage for lightning at all, It's super campy until you destroy the ceiling, and even then it can be campy. Getting to EX cores is just a chore and the map is made in such a way that at some point the gigantic hole in the center keeps your thunderfalls and smites from ground rushing, which wouldn't be such a problem, but it's also a wide stage. Your best option in this stage is to run with aerith assist and just do the Crushing blow combos unless you get close to a wall. Be prepared to be camped out on this stage.
Lunar Subterrain
rating: 4/5
Fairly decent stage, but the ridges hurt Kuja assist. The stage is low ceiling so thunderfall almost always rushes, it's long but short so you may get camped a little, but it's still a reasonable stage to go to, and can be quite fun too.
Kefka's Tower
rating: 2.5/5
Don't get me wrong this stage isn't all that bad. I just rate it lower because a lot of campy characters, and even aggressive characters, make this stage their *****. Lightning has the tools she needs to use this stage to her benefit, but others have way better tools. don't CP this stage, they'll just pick someone who can abuse the small area.
Planet's Core
rating: 3/5
This stage is weird. You can land most stuff as a wall rush, but otherwise it has banish traps at the bottom. Not a lot of room to ground camp so it can be a viable counter to some characters who cant put up with it, but I reserve it as a counter stage mostly.
Crystal World
Rating: 3.5/5
another big stage with minimal ground, but this one is more suited to lightnings talents with a way better chance of wall rushing and ground rushing. Counter ground based characters here.
Edge of Madness
rating: 4/5
this stage is a special snowflake. It's super small, but it doesn't give huge benefits to campy characters, in fact it's tall enough that I can still avoid most stuff just fine. This stage is a 1/5 in select MUs but I'll leave it at 4/5 for the time being.

V.Who are you watching? - Advanced tech
In this section we'll be covering some advanced combos and tech that you an use to take your lightning to the next level.
This tech will include stuff as simple as movement tech, to as difficult as comboing off of blizzara and anything inbetween.

1. Tech pertaining to thunder or various aplication
Free fall thunders.
Free fall thunder is a spacing technique which is done by pressing any direction of movement after using thunder. This will put lightning into a free fall state almost instantly after the cooldown on thunder, allowing her to drop down and hit a target, or avoid a punish. This is especially useful in the firion matchup to avoid straightarrow, and as a general spacing technique to get yourself where you want to be for your next attack. This technique's application can make the difference between a good lightning and a great lightning.
This technique is important for a lot of reasons beyond positioning. It builds assist as the second fastest method of assist building in the game (to my knowledge) so learn to use it wisely!
Mixing up free fall thunder is important. Sometimes it's better not to free fall it. During many of my sets I've discovered that doubling up on thunder, while not getting my assist, might save me from a dash in, or blocking even. Free fall thunder is pressurable, but remember how many tools you have and use them to your advantage to win the game vs pressure!
Thunder circe dodge
Circle dodges aren't exactly advanced tech, but they seem to be ignored by a vast majority of the player base. Circle dodging includes rotating the analog stick very quickly while dodging, instead of holding a direction. There are two affects to this depending on how fast or far you rotate the stick. First, lightning will do a half circle dodge, where she moves forward in an arc. This technique is good for punishing wiffs on stuff such as shield of light, or delta attack, from behind, Or getting out of the range of an Air circle to punish it.
The second application of circle dodges is a full circle dodge. This dodge will very quickly return you to the original place of the dodge, while still in I frames. This technique can mean the difference between punishing a poke and not punishing a poke, and I suggest learning how to use it.
Thunder blocks
Thunder has an incredibly short cooldown. Like, its so short that you can almost never be punished for using it in neutral unless they're dashing at you and they manage to push you out of it and hit you with a poke. You can do anything out of thunder, even free fall, so why not block? Thunder blocking could mean you get a free HP when they try to match you in neutral! They can't match you in neutral. Nothing is as fast as lightning. We strike in an instant and then we're gone. Probably to build assist.
Double Thunder
Less advanced tech, more humorous shenanigan, Enemies who block your thunder beware a second thunder! Yes. Thunder is so safe on block you can punish the block with thunder. If they try to save their pitiful selves with a poke attack, well, to bad for them. even stops nightglow in it's tracks. (may not work against abilities like turbo hit, may not work on squall. doesn't work against magic absorb abilities such as Air Circle) Use caution when trying this. sometimes you can still be punished.
2. Tech Pertaining to thunderfall
Going Commando
No really, we are. Always followup your assist chases with a commando enhanced thunderfall. It seems basic but that swap can be hard for a new player to remember. It does one extra point of damage on every hit, and we're all about that min max here.
Crispy Punishes
As I mentioned earlier, Thunderfall punishes all manner of attacks from emperor's flares (on prediction) to Firion's lord of arms (on reaction). Did you know Thunderfall also punishes dodges? it does. It does everything but keep lightning safe from the clutches of deadly assists. Learn what you can and cant punish with this beast. master it's range, and people will be scared to throw out their long attacks, For fear that you did indeed, bring the thunder.
3. Tech pertaining to magic glitches
Did you know you can magic glitch Army of One?
Try it. It's not generally useful, but if you hit with our dear friend bob while in the process of using army of one, you can get a very slight range increase at the cost of damage, against walls and ceiling. This tech can be useful for cinching out that aerith assist, but is generally less useful when using Kuja as you could just combo off watera on reaction. Try it some time, Learn the range, and it might benefit you.
4. Tech pertaining to specific range combos
ENJOY THE VIEW
This is hard to pull off, but you can combo thunderfall off of both watera AND blizzara! Cool huh? Well it's not that easy. First, for watera, you have to use it right as they get hit meaning it's the ultimate prediction. Luckily if they dodge or block you can still catch them but it doesn't look nearly as cool.
It gets hard at blizzara. Blizzara is a strange combo tool, because usually it doesn't combo at all, and trying to practice these you might think "but Terraaaaaa, Blizzara can't combo at all!"
THATS WHERE YOU'RE WRONG GET BACK IN THE DOJO.
Blizzara will combo into thunderfall only if you've already dodged before it hits. That is to say the suction caught someone and you can use blizzara just as the last hit goes off. Otherwise it won't land. It's one of the most position based combos I've encountered because of the requirement for this delayed hit and the range of thunderfall.
HI! HUH ! HYAH!
Blizzara also combos into thunder for those spicy assist combos! They always look good, and everyone wonders how you did them! Well I'll tell you how!
Blizzara is very much a range based ability. There's two ways to do this combo. Either use the original delayed version like with thunderfall, and simply do not dodge, but dash, and it will work, OR, you can use it at a closer range, where you are above the opponent, and you can do it even if you landed it immediately! Though much harder to do than the delayed version, it's well worth the risk in some cases, such as punishing attacks. Use cuation during this technique as it will put you in a precarious situation close to your foe. Judge the neutral before attempting to pull it off.
This works better at the ceiling.
Water you waiting for?
An easier combo, but still range specific, is Watera into thunder! This is useful for that extra damage, or if you're using aerith assist, as getting an aerith assist off of bob can be hard. This combo allows you to maximize damage and still get that assist by dashing forward at the point of contact and catching them with a thunder. It looks flashy and it is! you just need to be close when bob does his explody thing, or it wont work.
Why is this water frozen?!
I couldn't think of a better name.
Bob gonna hit? you in the right range? why not get EXTRA crispy... or the opposite, and freeze them in place! Time it right and bob will hit them right into a freeze trap of death and destruction! You lose your ability to assist combo but gain that mental edge. "Did he really just do that? Oh man this guy knows his stuff." The first minute of a fight isn't about winning, it's about sending a message. A message that you're going to win. It's about winning.
Aerith Unchained
I chose to include this under specific range because it IS a specific combo.
If you have a two bars of Aerith assist, and you catch them in one, Try the double crushing blow combo. Not only does it make them hate you as much as we hate LXD on Tuesdays, It makes for some crispy extra damage. About 1200 of it to be precise. This combo can be hard to pull off but it's arguably easier than the zidaerith combo, so give it a shot. Maybe you can be a casual too!
Magic glitched Lightning strike
This is... a less ranged specific, more situational combo but it's very important to keep track of.
Every once and a while, especially while using Aerith, and sometimes without, You'll come across times when your watera would interrupt flourish of steel. This usually means you cant get off your damage. This can happen when you block on the ground, or when you land an Aerith ground rush combo with Thunderfall or Smite.
In these situations it can seem like your only option is Gale. Well Gale kind of isn't your most optimal choice in those situations, because if watera hits you'll miss.
The solution is Magic glitch! So the trick is, as soon as watera's about to hit or hits, use lightning strike. Your watera will hit and Lightning strike will miss, but because of the link glitch, the second strike of the attack hits regardless within range.
Particularly useful for lightning, because it helps her reliably land HPs.
5. Tech pertaining to commando
GET READY
Flourish of steel. A move that would have been great on smite, but ends up subpar on launch because of the ground requirement. Honestly I hardly get to use this badass looking attack that assist combos against walls. I only end up using it to punish stuff like nightglow, or glare hand in the golbez matchup, and while there's still more use for it it's not often that amazing. Let me tell you though, Pair this with omni ground dash + and suddenly you've got a potent tool to punish anyone who tries to play their meager ground game. (firion need not apply. We have thunderfall for you)
Use it on blocks, use it on punish, Use it randomly to spook them. But don't use it to much. You shouldn't see this all the time.
PEW PEW PEW
Blaze rush is unique in that it's niche is being a shittier army of one. If you're not in ravager and you want to do everything an army of one does but worse, use blaze rush! it doesn't reflect projectiles, and it doesn't chase, but it DOES punish dodges and blocks and it DOES wallrush, meaning you can assist combo with it. Good mixup tool on the wall if you want a spicy reset after your combo.
I think I'm getting dizzy.
Lightning seems to have a bunch of weird priorities. For example, she can dash at you on the ground and clash with most braves, and then shoot you in the back of the head. Real women don't need to fight you head on. They just need to Bull rush you until you cant see straight. Apparently.
Use this at the start of matches to scare opponents or clash. It's a good move to use out of thundaga. It's not exactly advanced tech, but using commando at all anymore is so foriegn that I thought I'd put this here.
smite combos
If you're good at timing stuff, smite combos into a lot of kuja's stuff. If you do it right you can combo the first hit into the air assist. You can even combo the whole thing into the ground assist. Switching to commando after calling assist should be mandatory at this point, just to combo, but also for that crispy +1 attack.

VI. Points for trying.
Thank you for taking the time to read this guide. If you're gonna give lightning a try, Good luck! she's very fun to play and definitely rewarding to learn and master. I wouldn't call myself a master yet, but I'm getting there. We can learn together! Maybe you can even teach me something!
Shoutouts:
RDF for teaching me a lot of the subtle tech during some lightning dittos. And also for being a badass. Thanks RDF.
Muggshotter For discussing the guide with me, and talking about tech and move analysis. Also gave me a crispy chart for damage numbers and priority
The Crispy Crew You know who you are. Stay frosty fellas.
Wheelz Dude's a G. nuff said.
LXD I say I hate playing you, and I do... but i do get a lot of thought out of it, and you're a G. thanks for putting up with my shit friend.
TKG for reviewing and helping me add missing content and fix existing content.
Ujbhn for the frame data chart
All the people I played to learn this mountain of a character do you guys think lightning would be upset at me for referring to her as a mountain? probably.